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Digital Marketing Auckland - Social Media + SEOFri, 01 Dec 2017 03:23:09 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.1How to grow your small business with Google My Business Listinghttps://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/30/google-my-business-listing/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/30/google-my-business-listing/#respondThu, 30 Nov 2017 19:25:39 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=9255Why your small business should use Google My Business listing No business, but especially any small business, can afford to ignore the importance of online marketing – it’s the only way to reach customers in today’s digital world. And the best way to reach them online is via the place where the vast majority of [...]

Why your small business should use Google My Business listing

No business, but especially any small business, can afford to ignore the importance of online marketing – it’s the only way to reach customers in today’s digital world. And the best way to reach them online is via the place where the vast majority of people go to do their online searches, namely Google. So this is where Google My Business listing comes in.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business listing is a free and easy-to-use tool that a business can use to manage their online presence on Google, including Google Search and Google Maps.

So what’s the significance of that? Well, when someone searches for your business on Google, Google pulls information, such as your phone number and address, the link to your website, and customer reviews of your business, from your Google My Business profile page and features it in the Google search results.

How will my business benefit from having a Google My Business listing?

Think of Google My Business as the ‘Yellow Pages’ for the digital age. When Google features the information from your Google My Business page in search results, searchers can see your exact address and location in Google Maps. And even if you don’t have a website (although we believe every business should have one!), a customer who searches for your business category, for example, bakery, babysitter or electrician, will get a list of local business in their search results. Do Google My Business right and your business could be included in that list.

In other words, Google My Business benefits your business in 2 very important ways, namely:

Google My Business makes it easier for customers to find your business. Who doesn’t want that?

Google My Business generates free advertising for your business, and it does so on the world’s biggest search engine! What could be better than free advertising, especially for a small business? Enough said.

4 tips for a successful Google My Business listing

Once you’re signed up to Google My Business, here are 4 things you should do so you get the most out of your Google My Business listing.

1.Use keywords: When you fill out the keywords and category section of your Google My Business listing, make sure to include your main keywords when writing up an engaging description of your business and its products or services.

2. Use images and videos: You can include a number of images and videos for free in your Google My Business listing, so anything that will add value to a visitor’s understanding of your business, what it does and where it is located is valuable digital marketing collateral. So make the most of the opportunity.

3. Create a Google My Business listing for each site: If your business has a number of shops, branches or locations, make sure you create a Google My Business listing for each one, with its own specific address, phone number and other relevant details. This is a great way for enabling local customers to find your business wherever you’re located.

4. Encourage customers to write reviews: Ask as many of your satisfied customers to write a genuine review of your business on Google My Business. This is a great way to boost your Google rankings and help build further customer trust in your business.

Make a Google My Business profile your priority

If you don’t have a Google My Business profile for your business, then you really need to make doing so one of your priorities. Even more so if you are small businesses, because creating a Google My Business profile and integrating it with your business’s Google+ page will not only improve your Google rankings, but it will also make it easier for searchers to find you and build their trust in you. That’s like online gold!

Getting your Google My Business profile sorted is one of the best things you could ever do for your business in today’s digital marketing world.

Need help sorting your Google My Business profile?

Of course, as is the case with any digital marketing tool, ongoing maintenance of your Google My Business page is essential. After all, Google itself is regularly applying updates and making changes to its search algorithm, so you will need to keep on top of all your Google profiles in order to keep pace with Google itself.

Fortunately, the online marketing team at Net Branding, Auckland’s full-service digital marketing agency, is expert at navigating the ever-changing Google landscape, so we can take care of your Google My Business profile for you while you focus on running your business. If you’d like to find out more about Google My Business or how we can harness the power of digital marketing to help you grow your business, simply give us a call today.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/30/google-my-business-listing/feed/04 ways digital marketers can help your business succeed in today’s digital worldhttps://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/18/4-ways-digital-marketers-can-help-business-succeed-todays-digital-world/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/18/4-ways-digital-marketers-can-help-business-succeed-todays-digital-world/#respondSat, 18 Nov 2017 04:18:59 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6354What is digital marketing? What can a digital marketer do for me? How can digital marketers and digital marketing help my business succeed in today’s digital world? In this article, Net Branding’s digital marketing consultant explains how marketing has changed in the online world and how digital marketers hold the key to online success for [...]

]]>What is digital marketing? What can a digital marketer do for me? How can digital marketers and digital marketing help my business succeed in today’s digital world? In this article, Net Branding’s digital marketing consultant explains how marketing has changed in the online world and how digital marketers hold the key to online success for businesses.

The Internet, and the forms of digital media it enables, has become so pervasive in today’s world that consumers now have access to all the information they need, any time and any place they need it. Marketing has always been about connecting businesses with their audiences in the right place and at the right time. To enable that in today’s online world requires digital marketing.

Digital marketing is the umbrella term used to describe all the online marketing channels that digital marketers use, such as websites, email, social media and the various search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc), to enable businesses to connect with their existing and prospective customers.

In addition to using these channels to connect with their target audiences, digital marketers also monitor how those audiences respond. Unlike traditional or offline marketing efforts, digital marketing enables digital marketers to see accurate results in real time.

For example, if you put an advert in a magazine or mail out a flyer it’s extremely difficult to determine how many people actually went to the page in the magazine and paid attention to your advert or read your flyer when it arrived in their mailbox (or simply biffed it in the bin). In other words, there’s really no accurate way to know if your advert or flyer was responsible for any sales at all.

With digital marketing, however, the digital marketer can see things like the exact number of people who viewed your website, how many pages they visited, how often and how long they stayed, what device they were using at the time, where they came from, and so on. And they can see it all in real time. This information helps the digital marketer see what content and which channels are generating those all-important sales leads, enabling them to prioritise channels and tweak marketing efforts accordingly – and all in real time too.

5 ways digital marketers can drive marketing success

The days are long gone when the messages that people get about your products or services are the ones that you want them to hear. In today’s digital world people are not just exposed to what you say about your brand, they are also exposed to what the other customers, friends and relatives say about you. What’s more, until they build their trust in you as a business, they are far more likely to believe those sources of information about you, than the information you put out about yourself.

The key to building trust with today’s digital consumer lies in what you tell them and how you do it – and how you back up what you say by what you do.

So, given that most of your communication with today’s customers will take place via some or other digital channel, we can say that the success of your business in the digital world will depend a lot on how your digital marketer conducts your digital marketing efforts.

1 Build Trust: As we’ve said, the key to the customer relationship in the digital age is trust. The way you communicate and what you communicate via the various digital channels you use will determine how successful you will be at building trust with your customers. Always ensure your messages about what you do, how you do it and what your customers can expect from you are consistent across all your digital channels.

2 Listen to your customers: One way to build trust is to show that you care about your customer and their needs. Your relationship with your customers is no longer a one-way street with you calling the shots. In the digital age it’s all about developing a real or two-way conversation in which you listen to what your customers want from you and then respond to their specific requirements. For some great ideas on how to build two-way communication with your audience, see our previous article about Facebook pages and groups.

3 Be easily reachable: The best way to be able to listen to customers and build their trust is to always be easily reachable. The harder customers find it to reach you, the less they will trust you. Of course, different customers have different preferences when it comes to the ways in which they want to be able to reach you. Some want to call or email while others (a growing number) want to use their preferred social media platform to talk to you. Fortunately, in the digital world enabling multiple channels for two-way communication with customers is relatively easy and very cost-effective.

4 Provide high-quality content: Useful, informative, high-quality content that consumers want to consume is what will make them come back for more. In other words, we’re talking about content that is not necessary geared to selling but rather to adding value to solving a problem in the lives of your customers. Providing such content will move your target audience to see you as an authority in your field – and keep them coming back to you for more of the same. This is how to build a relationship and develop the trust that will eventually lead to consumers converting to your product or service.

Fortunately, a digital marketer has the skills and know-how to use the full suite of digital channels to provide a holistic customer experience, from the time they first make contact with you online to developing a relationship of trust and, finally, the act of conversion.

Would you like to increase traffic to your website and increase sales? In this article, Net Branding’sdigital marketing expert shares 7 effective SEO writing tips for driving conversions.

Right now, millions of people are searching the Internet for the things they want. In this digital search world, the copy (words, sentences and paragraphs) that you write about your products and services on your website is the most powerful digital marketing tool you have for increasing awareness of your brand.

With so many people online looking for content just like yours it’s important that you do everything you can to help them find it. That’s why search engine optimization (SEO) is such a crucial aspect of your content marketing strategy for significantly increasing your traffic and brand awareness.

Here are 7 effective SEO writing tips to help you optimise your copy for SEO to increase traffic to your website and drive conversions.

1 Use keywords naturally
Include main and secondary keywords naturally (i.e. don’t stuff them in awkwardly) in your copy, but make sure you clearly optimise the content for the main keyword. Also make sure your main keyword appears in the first paragraph of your content.

2 Write meaningful SEO meta titles and descriptions
Optimise your title tag with your main keyword, supported by additional relevant keywords. Of course, this requires that you know what people are searching for and what they want to find so you can craft copy accordingly.

The more relevant the keyword, the more weight the search engines will give it and the higher it will appear in search results. But don’t simply stuff titles with keywords – make sure they’re meaningful and informative.

Likewise, include your target keyword in your meta description and provide additional value-adding information to increase relevance, encouraging the searcher to want to click to land to your page.

3 Structure URLs so they’re optimised for search engines
Keep your URLs simple, short and easy for a search engine (and anyone else looking at them) so they can immediately understand exactly what your page is about.

4 Format your pages properly
Pages that are formatted properly for SEO are pages that are:

Broken up with headings and subheadings. These are the so-called H1, H2, H3 tags. Make sure you use your keywords in these tags, especially your main keyword in your H1 tag and other keywords on the other tags. This helps the search engines see that your page is targeted to specific content and that you also cover off relevant related information as well.

Feature short paragraphs of two to three short sentences. People read short paragraphs and shy away from long one. Keep sentences short (no more than 15 to 20 words) and get to the point quickly. This helps to keep readers engaged and focus their attention.

Use bullet or numbered points. Bullets or numbers break up content and make it easier for readers to quickly get the important facts.

Include links in the content. Adding links to your other pages where doing so is relevant provides more information for readers and adds value to their experience.

5 Ask questions, then answer them
Anticipate the questions that your audience might have and answer them. This is a great way for drawing the reader into your content and explaining things clearly. If your ask the right questions and answer them well, then your audience will be even more ready to convert.

6 Ask the reader to do something
In other words, have a call to action. You’re writing copy to sell or get people to ultimately do something, not just to state facts. So nudge them (you don’t have to be ‘salesy’ to do this) to make a decision by telling them what to do. Be sure to make it obvious and easy for them to do what you want them to do.

7 Optimise your images
They say “a picture paints a thousand words” so definitely make good use of relevant, value-adding images on your pages. However, make sure you give each image a proper file name and include your target keyword in their alt text. Make sure you optimise image size so they load quickly and clearly.

If you follow these basic SEO writing tips you’re sure to improve the conversion rates on your website.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/11/17/7-seo-writing-tips-drive-conversions/feed/0How to create the best business websitehttps://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/24/build-best-business-website/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/24/build-best-business-website/#respondSun, 24 Sep 2017 22:56:22 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6427Are you disappointed with the results of your online marketing? Do you feel your online marketing efforts all seem too expensive and inefficient? The problem could lie with your website. In this article, Net Branding’s digital marketing expert reveals some of the pitfalls lurking in website design and how to avoid them so you can [...]

Is your business website doing the job it was built to do, namely converting visitors into customers?

Your website is the most important online marketing tool you have, so you need to have the best business website possible. If your business website is faulty, then that’s very bad news for the future success of your business online.

Given how crucial websites are for businesses in today’s online world, it’s still surprising how many business websites don’t actually do the job they were built to do. Even worse, by the time a business realises their website is a bit of a dud, it’s too late because it’s already been built and the funds earmarked to build it has been spent.

If this describes your situation, what can you do about it? We’ll get to that shortly. But first, we need to find out why the problem occurred in the first place. So then, why are so many business websites not living up to their task? To answer that, let’s look at what a business website is supposed to do.

To achieve the first task, you contract a web designer to build a website that looks good and is a credit to your brand. Achieving the second task is the role of your marketing person. Getting your business website to work as far as marketing is concerned is all about driving traffic to the website and then ensuring the website is up to the task of converting visitors into paying customers.

However, while the business website that the designer creates and hands over to the marketing person might have all the bells and whistles from a look and feel perspective, it might not be at all suitable for what the marketing person needs it to be able to do. Disaster!

Getting the design for business websites right

The process usually starts with a web designer coming up with a beautiful design that they and the respective business owner find pleasing on the eye. Once they agree on the look and feel, the web designer writes the necessary code or uses custom code in a website builder, to bring the design to life. And then they hand it over to the marketing person…

Because web designers create websites and then marketers do their thing to drive traffic to it, a good web designer will think and act like a real team player – by creating a website in which various people can work successfully together over the life of the website.

All too often, unfortunately, this doesn’t happen. Instead, the code the web designer uses to lock in the website’s beautiful appearance often means that the website is no longer flexible enough for the marketing person’s needs. Which means the marketer won’t be able to make the necessary and continuous tweaks that will enable the website to fulfil is marketing role.

In order for your marketer and their digital marketing efforts to be successful, your business needs a flexible website that can be tweaked and updated on the go. We’ll say it again – the key to having a business website that works like it should lie in having a flexible website.

What exactly is a flexible website?

A flexible website is one that is built using flexible themes so you can move around elements, like the navigation, easily add or remove features, and tweak content. All so you can create the right digital marketing environment in order to easily and efficiently generate leads, conversions and sales.

Choosing the right website builder is key

In order for your business website to be the efficient and effective marketing tool that you need it to be, it needs to flexible enough to be able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of your digital marketing efforts.

The most important decision you can make to enable this lies in selecting the right website builder. While there are many website builders available, for example, WordPress, Wix and Squarespace, it’s important to use the right one in order to achieve the best business website.

Which website builder should I use?

Simply go with the world’s most popular website builder – WordPress. The fact it has been used to create as much as 60% of all websites means it’s best for creating flexible business websites. That’s because it’s rich in features and tools that enable marketers to do what they need to do to get their websites ranking in search engines and converting traffic into leads and sales. And because so many use it, there are always plenty of people that can jump in and help, instead of being at the mercy of an individual web designer to tweak their bespoke creation.

Just make sure you use a popular WordPress theme that has been used a lot or that has released a number of versions. While that might mean you lose a little uniqueness in the look and style of your website, it also means that most of the bugs will have been sorted already.

What about the other website builders?

The simple answer is that the others are not online marketing-friendly.

For example, while web designers do like to build websites using Squarespace because it enables them to get good-looking websites up quickly, Squarespace doesn’t enable marketers to do the required search engine optimisation (SEO) work to achieve the necessary search rankings for generating organic traffic. So, if Squarespace doesn’t provide what you need to ensure your business website works like it should, why would you go with it?

Another popular example of a website builder is Wix, but again it’s not friendly towards digital marketing efforts. And while it has similar SEO issues as Squarespace has, it also doesn’t allow the various third-party tools that digital marketers use to generate the data that helps them understand what’s working and not working on the website from an online marketing point of view.

How do I get my business website working like it should?

Once your flexible website is up and running it’s time for your marketer to start driving some traffic to it so they can gather the necessary data to see what on the website is working and what’s not. And then they’ll have to make all sorts of tweaks. So there’s no such thing as creating a perfect website first off.

To get your website working, you’ll need to go through it page by page, tweaking features, content, images, layout (just about everything) as you go. Remember, the ultimate aim of the process is to make the whole experience of your website simpler, easier and more responsive for your visitor, no matter what device they use to access it. After all, if it isn’t, you can kiss the whole conversion objective goodbye.

Every website will have trouble spots that need to be sorted. Most times you’ll only realise where the trouble spots are when you have the real-time data to show you where visitors are experiencing problems. For example, which pages are taking too long to load, which fields on forms cause people to give up and abandon the form, where content or headings are causing confusion. The list can be long.

Then, only once you’ve tweaked your business website enough to sort the problems, should you ramp up your digital marketing activities with the aim of driving lots more traffic to your website. At which point the website should be working like it’s meant to be and conversions are heading skywards.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/24/build-best-business-website/feed/0Is SEO important for your business?https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/19/seo-important-business/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/19/seo-important-business/#respondTue, 19 Sep 2017 06:02:03 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6368Is SEO really important for my business? Why do I need to invest in search engine optimization? In this article, Net Branding’s SEO expert answers these questions by explaining how investing in SEO will guarantee the success of your online brand. These days, virtually everyone is jumping online to look for information, products and services, [...]

]]>Is SEO really important for my business? Why do I need to invest in search engine optimization?
In this article, Net Branding’s SEO expert answers these questions by explaining how investing in SEO will guarantee the success of your online brand.

These days, virtually everyone is jumping online to look for information, products and services, or to check reviews before they buy something. So, if you want them to find your products or services then you have to ensure they can easily find your website online. The only way to do so is to optimise your website for digital search. No matter what your business does, and irrespective of whether it’s new or old, small or large, if you have a website, then SEO or search engine optimisation has the potential to make or break the success of your brand online.

How does SEO work?

SEO or search engine optimisation refers to the various methods for increasing a website’s position on the results pages of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. Get your website SEO right and you’ll draw traffic to your website and grow sales and revenue.

7 reasons why SEO is important for business

1. SEO makes you visible
If you really want to be found online then SEO is a no-brainer. The easier you are to find online, the greater the likelihood you will sell your products and services. So it’s worth putting time and effort into getting your SEO right.

2. SEO builds trust
Users tend to trust the search engines. The higher a website ranks in a search engine’s results, the more credible searchers will perceive it to be and the more traffic it will get.

3. SEO improves user experience
The sole reason for the existence of the search engines is to provide their users with a quality experience. If search engines determine that your website will give visitors a good experience then they will rank it high in search results. And if users enjoy their visit to your website, they will tend to come back again and again – and share the link with other users.

4. SEO is cost-effective and measurable
In fact, by getting your SEO right, you can drive qualified traffic to your website without ever having to spend a cent on online advertising. Another really great thing about SEO is that you can measure its performance. For example, you can test different keywords, content and social networks and you can do it in real time, and tweak what you do as you go to get the best possible results from your digital marketing efforts.

5. You can control SEO
In the world of business there are many things outside your control. But with SEO, you have the ability to exercise control over your website’s ranking. In other words, SEO gives you the ability to influence the volume of traffic to your website, which has a direct impact on leads, conversions, sales and, ultimately, the profitability of your business.

6. SEO builds your brand
One of the main focus areas of SEO for driving success in search is quality content and content marketing. Having fresh, quality content that provides value to your audience will quickly separate your brand from that of your competitors. This will not only influence your website’s ranking but will also build trust with your audience, who will see your website as a hub for quality information.

7. You can use SEO to beat the competition
The better your SEO, the greater the chances are that you will outshine your competition online. Of course, your competition knows this and they will be trying to do the same to you. So, don’t give your competitors any opportunity to out manoeuvre you by ignoring this valuable tool for your business.

Do you want to optimise your website?

Would you like a trusted SEO partner who will work with you to fully understand your business and implement SEO solutions designed to help you get to the top of search engine rankings so you can reach more people and earn more revenue online?

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/19/seo-important-business/feed/0Content marketing – why every business needs it?https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/17/content-marketing-why-every-business-needs-it/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/17/content-marketing-why-every-business-needs-it/#respondSun, 17 Sep 2017 00:29:58 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=5571The world of sales has changed in two significant ways. Firstly, the days of prospective customers heading in-store to find out about products and services from a sales rep are well and truly over. Nowadays, people do their own research. For example, research done by HubSpot, a developer of inbound marketing and sales software, found [...]

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The world of sales has changed in two significant ways. Firstly, the days of prospective customers heading in-store to find out about products and services from a sales rep are well and truly over. Nowadays, people do their own research. For example, research done by HubSpot, a developer of inbound marketing and sales software, found people do around 12 online searches before even visiting a brand’s website. Secondly, there’s more noise out there than ever before, constantly clamoring for customers’ attention. However, in response to this noise, consumers are fast-forwarding television shows, installing ad-blockers so they can browse the web without adverts and customizing what they get to see in their social media feeds. All this makes it imperative that you find a way to make sure your brand can still stand out – and one of the best ways for doing this is by means of content marketing.

Content marketing isn’t just for the big brands. Small businesses use it successfully every day to grow their sales. The question is, are you?

Content marketing that makes consumers sit up and take note

Here’s a little success story of how one very small business used content marketing to achieve a whole new outcome. In 2007, English taxi dispatcher Lauren Luke began to subsidise her day job by selling make-up on eBay. In an attempt to increase sales, Lauren created ‘how to’ videos and posted them on YouTube. Very soon, Lauren was bigger than mega cosmetics brand Estee Lauder on YouTube, and she was able to launch of her own make-up company, By Lauren Luke, stop dispatching taxis and become a successful business owner. Lauren had never spent a cent on traditional marketing.

By replacing the traditional sales pitch with helpful information, Lauren made consumers sit up and take notice. Why did it work? By making prospective customers see her brand as a valued provider of useful and relevant information, instead of merely being self-promoting, she ultimately enticed them to do business with her – and the return on her investment in content marketing was huge.

Low cost and effective

In any business, relevant content is one of its most valuable assets. However, the fact that small businesses have much less capital and fewer resources than bigger brands makes content marketing one of the best marketing strategies for any small business. In fact, content marketing is one of the most low-cost and effective ways you can build awareness of your business, generate leads and drive traffic to your website.

Content marketing includes all forms of digital marketing, from emails and social media to webinars, eBooks and video – in other words, anything used to create and share content that will attract, engage and, ultimately, drive a profitable customer action.

7 tips for creating a successful content marketing strategy

No matter what industry you’re in – from fixing cars to building homes or selling widgets – you can attract and retain customers through content marketing. Here are 7 tips for creating a successful content marketing strategy that will drive results and increase your bottom line.

Set specific goals – ones that you can measure
First of all, you need to establish what you want to achieve with your content marketing – so you can measure whether it’s working or not. Is your intention to boost your SEO, or do you want to generate more leads or are you trying to secure more conversions?

Know what content people want
Remember, it’s not about what you want – it’s about what ‘they’ want. While you might know exactly what you want to tell them, if that’s not something prospective customers want to hear about, you’ll be wasting your time and effort.So make sure you understand what it is that people want to find out about your niche market. What are their pain points? What are their needs? What are the things they want to know before they commit to buying the sort of products or services that you’re selling? This will help you in your choice of topics and mediums for creating content that answers their questions, as the first step in guiding them towards your solution.

Give them fresh, quality content – and do so regularly
As we mentioned before, it’s ‘loud’ out there. To get noticed among all the noise, you have to provide a steady flow of new information on various topics to grab the attention of your target audience and drive traffic to your website.Only quality content (informative, useful, entertaining material) is going to get their attention, get shared on social media, and get them to engage with your business. Remember too that other marketing tactics, such as pay-per-click advertising and banner ads, don’t really work if there is little or no fresh content to discuss or link to. Make sure you give people a reason to click and to keep coming back for more.Fresh, quality content also boosts SEO and search engine ranking, which increases the likelihood of your target audience coming across your material, but it’s also a great way to make yourself stand out from your competition, and make your brand more familiar in your target market – that way, there’s a much greater chance they will think of your business first-up when they need your type of product or service.

Build a reputation as a thought leader
If there are seven plumbers in town but only one provides useful information, then that will be the business that will start to stand out as the trusted expert in that community. Any small business that helps consumers, especially when they aren’t getting paid, will quickly build a reputation for trustworthiness.

Create content in various formats and repurpose for different platforms
People have preferences when it comes to the format in which they like to research their intended purchases. Some like to read an in-depth report, while others would rather just watch a video or look at a product comparison table. To reach the widest possible range of potential customers think about preparing your information in various formats. However, you can easily turn an eBook into a series of blog posts, or grab some statistics from the eBook to create an infographic, or create a quick video interview to share the information from the eBook.People also have their preferences when it comes to the platform via which they like to receive their information – so, think also in terms of blogs, website pages and the various social media networks.

Keep your website fresh, up to date and mobile-friendly
We all know the expression “first impressions count” – when it comes to your website they count even more, because it is often the first impression a potential customer will get of your business. So, do everything you can to make sure it’s a good one.A dated website will neither impress a viewer nor will it give them confidence in your business, and they will quickly lose interest and possibly never come back!Having a website that looks fresh and inviting, where information is not only up to date but is constantly featuring new material will make for a far better visitor experience, and will build their confidence that your business will be able to deliver for them. Make sure to optimise your website for mobile to ensure your content renders properly on mobile devices.

Include a call to action
It’s natural for people to take some time to decide whether to spend money on a product or make time for a service. However, once a prospective customer gets a clear answer to their question(s) or hears something they can relate to or engage with, then they will be motivated to make a purchase or schedule an appointment.When your content clearly answers the question “What’s in it for me?”, explains why what you offer is the best solution for your customer and gives them a clear call to action, then your content will be achieving what you intended it to accomplish.

Want help to create a content marketing strategy that delivers?

We hope these tips have given you the encouragement you need to create a content marketing strategy that will ultimately attract and engage your target audience. While it may take some time to see the results, if you stick with it, and continue to re-evaluate and refine your strategy, you are sure to reap great results.

If you would like help to create a content marketing strategy that’s tailored specifically to your business, then talk to the team at Net Branding, Auckland’s full-service digital marketing agency. Our experienced copywriters know exactly how to make words sell and our full-service SEO team is skilled at integrating content into a digital marketing strategy that will quickly increase your brand’s visibility and result in quality leads and conversions.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/17/content-marketing-why-every-business-needs-it/feed/0How to protect your online brand identity against theft?https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/01/protect-online-brand-identity-theft/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/01/protect-online-brand-identity-theft/#respondFri, 01 Sep 2017 00:19:28 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6262Why is my brand identity a valuable business asset? How do I protect my online brand identity from theft? In this article, Net Branding’s digital marketing specialist answers these questions and provides 5 tips to help you protect your online brand identity against theft. Most businesses work hard to build a unique identity for their [...]

]]>Why is my brand identity a valuable business asset? How do I protect my online brand identity from theft? In this article, Net Branding’s digital marketing specialist answers these questions and provides 5 tips to help you protect your online brand identity against theft.

Most businesses work hard to build a unique identity for their brand – one that adds value to their portfolio of goods and services, resonates with their customers and builds a relationship of trust with them. Are these the sort of characteristics that are reflected in your brand identity? If so, then it’s a brand identity that’s worth its weight in gold and something that any business, including yours, should fight tooth and nail to protect and enhance.

Unfortunately, some businesses follow a more duplicitous path when building their brand ‘identity’ – they simply steal someone else’s. Rather than working hard to create something of their own, they choose a parasitic course instead, by seeking to catch a free ride on the back of another company’s brand, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the genuine brand. We’re all familiar with the knock-off high-end watches, handbags, sneakers and more that have plagued the world for years, doing serious damage to the real brands they represent.

In the digital age, however, it’s not merely individual products that are being ‘stolen’ by counterfeiters – with businesses now online entire brands are susceptible to identity theft. We’ve no doubt all heard the stories about entire websites being created that look just like that of the original business, but aren’t. Even worse, as the fraudsters get better at their dark deeds, customers – your customers – are finding it more and more difficult to tell the difference between your genuine website and the fake one. Fraudsters are even adding injury to insult by creating supporting channels for their fake websites, with social media pages also claiming to represent your brand.

This is all serious stuff – and if you’re an online business then it’s doubly serious. That’s because these days most customers use online search and social media to help them make buying decisions. If they are being duped by these fake representations of your brand online, believing that they are interacting with you, and maybe even buying something from a website that they believe represents you, then you’ve got a very serious problem. But what to do?

How do I protect my brand identity from theft online?

As we said earlier, your brand identity is something you should defend at all costs. The good news is that with a bit of careful planning and some diligent monitoring, you can protect your brand identity from theft online. Here are 5 tips for protecting your online brand identity from theft.

1 Build a strong brand presence

The more you invest in creating a top-notch consumer experience across all of your brand’s touchpoints, especially online, the harder it will be for an imposter to imitate. When people get to know the sort of responses they can expect from you online, especially the way in which you conduct yourself on social media, the easier it will be for them to spot something that doesn’t quite add up, and raise the alarm.

2 Develop a set of brand guidelines

Consistency in communication with your customers is important for protecting your brand against identity theft. Ensure your digital strategy includes the development of a set of guidelines aimed at keeping all of your brand’s communications consistent across your online platforms. Fraudsters seldom have the same level of commitment to their crime that you will have in building your brand – so they will make mistakes. Having a set of brand guidelines that enable you to represent your brand consistently to customers will help both you and your customers spot something online that isn’t what it claims to be.

3 Use your brand’s visual elements consistently

Closely related to having a set of brand guidelines is how you use your logo and the other visual design elements of your brand. Think of these visual elements as very important identifying marks of your business and the message(s) you convey to your customers about your brand. Use these visual characteristics consistently and stamp them on everything you can, from your physical products to your online collateral and social media pages.

4 Stay in touch with your customers

Having an active and verifiable presence on social media as your business grows can do wonders for building and maintain your customers’ trust in your brand – and keep fraudsters at bay. Make keeping in touch with your customers via social media a key component of your digital marketing strategy, always doing your utmost to respond to their queries or complaints promptly and professionally. Having a public Facebook page for your brand and frequently posting content is a great way to earn a checkmark that certifies these pages have been verified as belonging to you, the original owner of your brand. A similar level of certification is also possible for other social media accounts. Want to know more? Talk to your Net Brandingsocial media specialist about including similar identity-enhancing social media tactics in your digital marketing strategy.

5 Keep an eye on the market and your competitors

Every now and then it pays to hop onto the main search engines and do a search of your business taglines and other key words for any signs of others using these to infringe on your brand. Visit the websites of your competitors to see if they are copying any of your brand’s visual design elements. If you find someone is copying your brand identity, find out where they are located and get your legal advisor onto it as quickly as possible. Not all countries take intellectual property seriously, so you could face a bit of a slog to get the matter sorted. Fortunately, countries like New Zealand and a number of others are very strict about intellectual property rights.

Why is my brand identity one of my most valuable business assets?

Never underestimate the significance of a well-recognized and respected brand – it’s probably one of your business’ most valuable assets. So you should take every step possible to ensure you defend your brand identity from being stolen online by unscrupulous operators.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/09/01/protect-online-brand-identity-theft/feed/0Net Branding nominated for 2017 Westpac Auckland Business Awardshttps://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/30/net-branding-nominated-2017-westpac-auckland-business-awards/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/30/net-branding-nominated-2017-westpac-auckland-business-awards/#respondWed, 30 Aug 2017 01:30:39 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6340We’re thrilled to announce that Auckland digital marketing company Net Branding has been nominated in the Excellence in Customer Service Delivery category for the 2017 Westpac Auckland Business Awards. The finalists for this year’s awards will be announced tonight at an event held at Auckland’s Villa Maria Estate. Winners will be celebrated at a gala [...]

]]>We’re thrilled to announce that Auckland digital marketing company Net Branding has been nominated in the Excellence in Customer Service Delivery category for the 2017 Westpac Auckland Business Awards.

The finalists for this year’s awards will be announced tonight at an event held at Auckland’s Villa Maria Estate. Winners will be celebrated at a gala dinner on 14 November.

The Westpac Auckland Business Awards are delivered annually by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED). The awards celebrate innovation and creativity in business and have been a highlight of Auckland’s business calendar for over 10 years.

“Net Branding is honoured to have been able to secure a nomination for this year’s awards,” says Net Branding Director Cathy Mellett. “Actually, the entry process has been quite humbling because it made us stop, step back and take stock of how Net Branding is performing. Being forced to take a hard look at our strengths and weaknesses is an extremely valuable process because it’s something most businesses seldom get the opportunity to do in the midst of their busy day-to-day operations.”

The awards application process also enabled Cathy to reflect on Net Branding’s journey to become a leading New Zealand owned and operate digital marketing agency that’s known for the way in which embraces innovation and creativity in the digital industry.

Net Branding was officially founded in 2010. However, its roots go back a bit earlier to 2008 when Cathy started sharing her information technology and digital marketing expertise to help friends and family in their respective businesses. One thing led to another and soon Cathy found herself building a team of talented digital specialists to provide a growing range of services across the digital disciplines of Website Development, SEO, Social Media Marketing and Online Advertising.

“Naturally, the path to where we are today has not been without its challenges and learnings,” says Cathy. “However, the team’s ‘can do’ approach to everything we do and our dedication to our various client’s business objectives have enabled us to generate stellar results for our clients businesses.”

“None of what Net Branding has achieved to date would have been possible without the team, and being nominated for the Westpac Auckland Business Awards is great recognition for all their hard work. So, as we look forward to tonight’s announcement of the finalists, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their dedication and support over the years.”

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/30/net-branding-nominated-2017-westpac-auckland-business-awards/feed/0A Facebook page vs Facebook group for your business – what’s the answer?https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/25/a-facebook-page-vs-facebook-group-for-your-business-whats-the-answer/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/25/a-facebook-page-vs-facebook-group-for-your-business-whats-the-answer/#respondFri, 25 Aug 2017 00:14:25 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6233Should your business have a Facebook page or a Facebook group? We discuss the pros and cons of each for your digital marketing efforts on Facebook. A Facebook page vs Facebook group is a repeat question that our digital marketing consultants get asked. Making connections on Facebook is not merely limited to friends – it’s [...]

]]>Should your business have a Facebook page or a Facebook group? We discuss the pros and cons of each for your digital marketing efforts on Facebook. A Facebook page vs Facebook group is a repeat question that our digital marketing consultants get asked.

Making connections on Facebook is not merely limited to friends – it’s great for businesses of all shapes and sizes too. In fact, I have always emphasized the importance to every business of having a presence on Facebook. As pretty much the world’s largest social networking community, if you use Facebook properly for your digital marketing efforts you really can’t go wrong. However, when it comes to Facebook marketing, I often get asked the question, “Should I have a Facebook page or a Facebook group for my business?”

While Facebook offers many ways to promote your brand, two of the most important ones are Facebook pages and Facebook groups. Pages and groups are completely different things – and they each have distinct advantages. For the purposes of your brand’s Facebook marketing efforts, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of each. But first, let’s get a handle on the difference between a Facebook page and group.

Facebook page vs Facebook group – what’s the difference

In essence, a Facebook page functions like a personal profile for a business, brand or organisation, whereas a Facebook group functions more like a forum where people with similar interests can gather online to talk about what’s dear to their heart.

For example, say you run a business that specializes in the repair of car radiators. In addition to your business website you may also have a Facebook page for your business – it’s a great way for posting news and tips about radiator care and directing viewers back to your website. However, if you’re in the business of car radiator repairs it’s very likely you’re also into all things to do with cars. So you might start a Facebook group for motor enthusiasts that others with similar interests can join. They’ll post pictures and share experiences, and you’ll be at the center of it all – and if you grow a thriving community, people will look to you for your (and your business’) expertise.

Facebook pages are great for two-way communication, between you and your followers, which makes a page perfect for businesses who want to make announcements to large groups of people. By connecting with a page, people to closely follow a specific business or brand. Pages are also verified for authenticity, which can help to cultivate greater trust in your brand among users.

Facebook groups, on the other hand, allow equal communication between all members of the group, which makes them great for enthusiasts who want to talk among themselves like an online community. And if you create a group, you can decide whether to make it publicly available for anyone to join, require administrator approval for members to join, or keep it private and by invitation only.

You can always create a Facebook page for your business as well as create and/or belong to a Facebook group. In other words, you’re not limited to one or the other – it’s just that they’re different, with different pros and cons. So let’s outline some of the main pros and cons of each for your business.

Pros and cons of Facebook pages for businesses

Page pros

Facebook pages have built-in analytics, which are great for providing you with very valuable insights into what aspect of your Facebook marketing are working.

SEO – Facebook pages will show up in Google searches (whereas Facebook groups won’t) – in other words, it’s much easier for people to find you in search.

Facebook pages offer advertising tools, like Facebook Ads, and the ability to build an email list, which is great for direct marketing options.

Facebook pages can be branded more closely to your business profile, enabling you to customize the page more for your purposes and to make your content stand out from that of others.

As we said earlier, pages are also verified for authenticity, which helps to build credibility for your business when customers find your page through an online search.

Page cons

It’s harder to increase the reach of your page organically – you have to invest in Facebook Ads to provide a boost.

Pages are mostly a ‘broadcast’ tool so conversations are more difficult to accomplish, especially between fans.

The constantly changing Facebook Algorithm has put a damper on the visibility of posts by Facebook pages in people’s newsfeeds (this is not the case with posts to Facebook groups).

Pros and cons of Facebook groups for businesses

Group pros:

The best Facebook groups are discussion-rich and, since participation is optional, only the people who want to be there show up – so you already have an ‘on-side audience’ so to speak.

Groups can have a much higher organic growth rate (than pages) and are much more visible in people’s newsfeeds (thanks to the Facebook Algorithm).

You can easily communicate with all members of a group via chat, email or wall posts – a great way for a business to promote an event, for example.

If you’re the group leader, then you’ve already established yourself as an expert, with all the benefits that that entails for your business situation too, like finding it far easier to direct your audience to your blog or website.

Group cons:

Facebook groups offer no analytics or insights – so it’s harder to keep track of how you’re doing.

Facebook groups don’t show up in searches, which makes them very difficult for other people to find unless they’re already part of a group or have a friend who joins.

Facebook groups require a lot of time if you want to manage them properly – you need to be there throughout the day to monitor (and contribute) to the conversations.

Unlike pages, groups don’t allow you to add on any additional applications for promotions or brand look-and-feel.

These are some of the main differences between Facebook pages and groups. Both have advantages and disadvantages for business use. Deciding on whether to include a Facebook page or a Facebook group in your business’ digital marketing strategy is probably going to boil down to what you’re trying to achieve. Just remember, it’s not an either/or situation – you can have both a page and a group.

Want to find out more?

If you’d like to have an informed discussion about whether to include a Facebook page or a Facebook group, or both, in your digital strategy, simply get in touch with the team at Net Branding. Our team of digital marketing specialists will be able to talk you though the options and what’s best for the specific needs of your business.

]]>https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/25/a-facebook-page-vs-facebook-group-for-your-business-whats-the-answer/feed/0Mastering the basics of video SEOhttps://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/20/mastering-basics-video-seo/
https://netbranding.co.nz/2017/08/20/mastering-basics-video-seo/#respondSun, 20 Aug 2017 00:09:35 +0000https://netbranding.co.nz/?p=6217When it comes to search engines, we’d probably all get the answer right if we were asked which one is number one – it’s obviously Google. But did you know that the second most popular search engine is YouTube? Yup, that’s right – YouTube is a search engine, and it has some very impressive stats, [...]

]]>When it comes to search engines, we’d probably all get the answer right if we were asked which one is number one – it’s obviously Google. But did you know that the second most popular search engine is YouTube? Yup, that’s right – YouTube is a search engine, and it has some very impressive stats, like the fact that more than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month. So search engine optimization (SEO) is just as important for video content on YouTube as it is for website SEO on Google – in fact, even more so, because owing to the fact that YouTube is owned by Google, YouTube videos (with the right SEO) enjoy better search engine ranking on Google too. So what then is video SEO?

What is video SEO?

In the same way that you have website SEO, so you also have video SEO. It simply means optimizing your video content so that it can be indexed and ranked for relevant keyword searches on the results pages of the search engines.

But first, let’s take a brief step back and look at why you should even be thinking in the first place of including video (video content, video advertising) as an online tactic in your digital marketing strategy.

Why have video content?

Time and again we’ve stressed the importance of constantly producing fresh, relevant and informative content. Paired with that is the fact that most people are visual learners. This is even more relevant now that we’ve become a very mobile society. While not everyone enjoys a good read anymore, many people are very receptive to watching short video clips, which can be watched on pretty much any platform (laptop, smart phone, tablet). These days, most people have a smartphone that has the ability to shoot a decent enough video anywhere – as a result, it’s now pretty much impossible to browse the Internet without seeing a video.

Why is video good for SEO?

Before we look at a few optimization strategies to give your videos the best chance at higher rankings, let’s recap on the top 3 reasons why video is good for SEO.

1. YouTube is the world’s 2nd largest search engine, so videos that have got their SEO right will enjoy a far higher ranking and hence more traffic than those that don’t.

2. YouTube videos also rank on the search engine of its owner, Google – subject, of course, to Google’s relevant algorithm. So the better a video’s SEO the higher it will rank in both search engines (like the proverbial “two birds with one stone”).

3. Video content is more likely to be shared. Owing to their visual nature, videos are more often shared via social media networks and have a much greater chance of going ‘viral’ and generating ‘likes’ than written content. Google pays a lot of positive attention to that sort of thing.

So, there you have it – 3 key reasons why video SEO is so important for your digital marketing strategy’s video advertising tactics. Now for some tried and tested tips to give your videos a better chance at a higher search engine ranking.

5 tips for good video SEO

1 Choose an apt title for and write a good description of your video

The title and metadata for your video are important for determining its search rankings. Ensure you include the keywords that people are actually searching for, but without, of course, stuffing the title and description with them so they don’t really make any sense. That’s neither attractive to people or search engines!

2 Include an engaging thumbnail image for your video

Even more important than the title is the video thumbnail that a searcher will see when your video is indexed. Don’t forget, people are highly susceptible to anything that’s visual, so the thumbnail will have a significant effect on whether or not people will click on it. If your thumbnail is an engaging, good-quality image that is relevant for what you’re trying to rank (i.e. what people are searching for), then there’s a much greater chance they will click on it.

3 Include a transcript for your video

The text that comes up with a video on an online feed is known as the video’s transcript. Transcripts are like page copy, which makes it easier for the search engines to index them and, in turn, rank them more easily for search.

4 Make sure your page is relevant to your video and optimized for SEO

It makes no sense to ensure your video SEO is spot on, but the page on which you put it on your website isn’t. After all, you want to make sure the search engine is interested enough to crawl your page to begin with – otherwise it will never find the great video you’ve put there. So, continue to create high-quality content and ensure the SEO of all your pages are in good order, and you’ll see the right results.

5 Make your video relevant to your page

Don’t simply dump a video on any old page. Make sure it makes sense for visitors to find it there – in other words ensure the page and the video are relevant to one another. And if that’s the case, then it also makes sense to make the video the whole focus of the page and to ensure it’s the first thing people see when they get to that page. Don’t make them scroll to have to find it. People don’t like to have to go scratching around to find something, no matter how good the item (in this case, your video) might be – and the search engines won’t bother either.

How to promote video SEO through paid advertising

Of course, Google and other search engines are constantly tweaking and changing their search algorithms in line with the changing preferences of their users. So, SEO is always going to be a bit of a moving feast. Therefore, investing in paid video advertising, e.g. paid Google advertising, Google AdWords and YouTube advertising, is sometimes the only logical way to get more clicks on your video as a way to accelerate organic growth in your online marketing campaigns. Organic growth will then, in turn, advance the SEO of your video.

Include video advertising in your digital marketing strategy

Videos, such as product demonstrations, how-to tutorials and customer testimonials, are a great way to make your business more ‘human’ and trustworthy in the eyes of your customers and potential customers. Therefore, no digital marketing strategy that wants to deliver tangible results should be without a video component.